In another sign of deteriorating state finances, the government has given permission for the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) to borrow from commercial banks to meet its contractual obligations.

Libya's Minister of Economy, Mustafa Abu Fanas, says the government has not yet drawn on Central Bank reserves but will be forced to do so if oil port closures continue.

The government has asked the General National Congress (GNC) to approve a preliminary budget of LD250m to LD300m ($200m to $240m) for a new development fund for the town of Derna in eastern Libya.

The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) had admitted for the first time that it has spent significant sums on covering the shortfall in oil revenues, highlighting the severity of the state's financial crisis.

The 2013 edition of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks Libya 172nd out of 175 countries, 12 places lower than in 2012. 

Prime minister Ali Zeidan says that state revenues from oil exports are just 20% of normal levels, meaning the country is facing a "financial crisis". 

Libya is to cooperate with a branch of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to set up sharia-compliant funding mechanisms.

The Ministry of Economy, Mustafa Abu Fanas, says closures at oil ports and refineries since the summer have cost the state almost LD8bn ($6.4bn), but will not have an effect on spending in the short term.

The latest edition of the Doing Business rankings, produced annually by the World Bank, puts Libya in a lowly 187th place out of 189 countries.

Clocks will not go back this weekend in Libya after all, as the government cancels a decision to implement daylight saving time (DST).

Winter timing will begin in Libya on 25 October with clocks going one hour back, meaning the country will be one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

In its latest forecasts, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that Libya's GDP will contract in 2013 after previously projecting growth of over 20%.

The interim government has formed a four-member committee to prepare the national budget for the coming year.

Annual inflation in Libya reached 4.1% in June, according to official figures, with food and beverage prices jumping sharply on the previous month. 

The Statistics and Census Bureau says it has finished the first phase of an economic survey in Benghazi and Marj.